


Making the best of what we get

by WritingWren



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Soulmate AU, one shot that became a three shot wheeeee, tooth-rotting fluff in chapter three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-07 20:44:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8815693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWren/pseuds/WritingWren
Summary: Basically soulmate au where you find your soulmate(s) by sharing visions with them (so called Important Moments or IMs).Starts at the end of S3 Ep10, when Tsukki goes to the bathroom to get a grip on himself, only that he doesn't do so because he feels like he failed but because he shared an IM with both Ushijima and Hinata in it and now he's terrified of finding out which one is going to be his soulmate. Ushijima or Hinata?
Only he didn't think about the third option.





	1. First Set

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this is coming from... xD So I was going to update Lost Innocence and then I accidentally saw a post on tumblr[ [ this one ]](http://tamithebibliotaph.tumblr.com/post/154298226042/moeblobmegane-speaking-of-fics-a-soulmate-au) and this just happened... moving it here because it's getting a little big for a tumblr post and it's easier to write here...  
> All credits for this even existing to [ moeblobmegane!](http://moeblobmegane.tumblr.com) =)
> 
> And now: Enjoy!~
> 
> [ Edit: I've thought about this and I really like this AU so if any of you has any ship they'd like to read about, how about you let me know and I'll try my best? =D Just write a comment or come and find me on [tumblr](http://tamithebibliotaph.tumblr.com). ]

This can not be. It’s just not possible. He’s ignored it during the game, but now that it’s over he can’t any longer. Maybe he just imagined it? Maybe it wasn’t an IM, maybe it was just the stress getting to him…

_Think logical. Think clear._

He can’t, though. He had to concentrate and think and analyse through all of the game and now his head’s spinning and the throbbing pain in his pinky he’s been ignoring is back with full force and it’s getting worse. He just wants to rest.

He can’t do that, either. If he goes out there now, will one of them be waiting? Did one of them share that vision? And if yes, which one? Would it be Ushijima? He shudders thinking of that being a possibility. He can’t imagine them being soulmates, the older boy oppressing -tyrannizing?- him like he did out there in that… he doesn’t want to think of it as an IM so he’ll just call it a vision. He doesn’t want to think about that as his future.

And if it was Hinata? That annoying shrimp… _that_ option makes him want to throw up. They’re total opposites, tall and tiny, dark and bright, moon and sun.

There’s no way they could ever be anything else than… whatever it is they are at the moment. Not quite enemies, nor rivals -though that’s probably what comes closest.

Shaking his head at himself he quickly washes his face a last time, dismissing every thought of that vision being anything more than that: a stress-induced breakdown of his mind. He puts his glasses back on and with them his indifferent, calm, if not cold, attitude and opens the door to join his teammates.

What he hasn’t thought of is the third option though; the one he wouldn’t have dreamed of even in his worst nightmares: Not Ushijima waiting nor Hinata.

But both of them.

 

He freezes, then stumbles backwards and slams the door right in their faces before they can do anything else. Then he just stands and stares, feeling very much like a cornered animal. He doesn’t like this. At all.

_No. This can not be. Think logical. It’s probably just a coincidence that they’re here._

Of course. Both of them. At the same time. Waiting. A coincidence.

_Dream on._

He doesn’t know how much time has passed when a knock at the door pulls him back into the here and now.

“Tsukishima Kei? You need to come out here so we can talk about this. We know you saw it, too.” It’s Ushijima’s voice, steady and firm, and it pisses Kei off more than anything else.

_Already bossing me around, are we? Well, that’s fast._

When he opens the door again it’s with a cold glare aimed straight at that overbearing bastard who thinks Kei’s going to make it easy for him to order him around just because he’s the oldest one caught up in this mess.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he says, his voice as icy as his glare. “It didn’t happen.”

“But it did,” Hinata chimes in. He’s unusually quiet but that’s probably because he’s exhausted. He moved a lot today, with all that running and jumping; it must’ve been hard on a body as small as his. "I don't like it either, but it happened and we at least needa talk about it..."

Yeah, Kei can imagine how Hinata doesn't like this. He's probably more scared of Ushijima than he is himself.

_At least Ushijima didn't basically tell me he hates me..._

He sighs, and, as unbelievably as it sounds, finds that he doesn't want to leave Hinata behind with Ushijima. He's not worried because he likes him, but they're teammates and they're going to go to the nationals and they'll need Hinata as a decoy now more than ever. And Ushijima is the enemy. 

"Alright," he says to Hinata. "We can talk to him but then we're going home with the others. And we can't take too long because they're all waiting for us." How convenient.

Hinata actually smiles, though tiredly, and nods. "Okay," he replies. "Thanks." The silent _for not leaving me alone with him_ remains unspoken.

"I know a place where we can talk in private," Ushijima says; and wow, Kei had almost managed to forget about him being here. As if this wasn't hard enough to do with only the shrimp and him. "Follow me."

The older boy starts moving and they don't have another option than following him down the hall, not in the direction they came from but in the other one, away from all the others. To his surprise there's a door leading outside to a small kind of couryard with some trees and plants and a bench Ushijima is taking a seat on now. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Kei sits down on the bench, between Hinata and Ushijima and wonders if this is what it would be like; Ushijima giving orders and just expecting them to follow. Kei doesn't want that, but if he rejected the bond -which _is_ an option, too- he wouldn't get another chance. You can not choose your soulmate, and if you happen to find him -them, in this case- you either take the chance or you don't. And if you don't you can still find someone, but those kind of relationships are instable because if you're unlucky your partner finds their soulmate after all and just like that it's over. Or it just doesn't work out.

Soulmates always do. Kei has grown up with stories about soulmates, he sees in his parents' relationship how it works out for the best, and he knows it never happened before that bonded soulmates didn't end up happy. But with these two? This must be a mistake. That's all there is to it; yes, nothing more than their imagination running wild. How could the three of them ever end up in anything else than a catastrophe?

Besides, IMs are meant to be something pleasant. He knows for his parents it was a flower field, only them, seeing each other, and they just _knew_. What has he done wrong to deserve an IM like _this_? The only one it was pleasant for was probably Ushijima... Kei shoots the older boy a sideways glance and catches him actually looking at him.

"What?" he asks, irritated.

"You're always thinking. You're analyzing the situation, aren't you?" Ushijima's voice hasn't changed, calm and firm; reliable. Ha. Reliable.

"So what if I am?"

"It's just something I noticed. It makes you a good blocker; I respect that."

Kei shakes his head. "I'm just a normal guy. The shrimp is the monster; you should keep an eye on him."

"You did manage to block one of my spikes. Is your hand okay?" He doesn't sound sorry, but it's not really his fault anyway. Getting injured is a risk every player takes; Kei's lucky he didn't break anything.

"I'm fine," he replies.

A nod. "Alright." Nothing more, but then again, Ushijima isn't really the type to talk much. Neither is Kei, actually. Talking should be Hinata's thing, but the shrimp hasn't said anything since they sat down. He casts a glance his way to see his eyes drooping.

"Hinata?" he asks, frowning. "You okay?"

The little redhead yawns. "Yeah, 'm fine, jus'..." And with that he's out like a light, sagging a little against Kei's shoulder, who stiffens slightly but doesn't push him away.

"Hinata? Oi, shrimp!" It's no use, though. His teammate isn't waking no matter what, not even when Kei tries to shake him a little.

"He must be exhausted after the match," Ushijima comments. "We should talk another time."

Which is good, but leaves one question.

_How the hell am I supposed to get him back to the bus now?_

His hand is still throbbing and his legs aren't off much better, and if he can't wake or carry him - _Carry him? Since when do I do that?-_ what to do? The problem solves itself in an unpredicted way. Ushijima stands and simply picks up Hinata, nodding at Kei.  

"Your hand is injured. I will carry him back to the bus; lead the way."

Kei doesn't like this. Hinata, defenceless, looking even smaller in the arms of the older boy. Actually Ushijima is more of a man already, with his deep voice and his height. There's nothing to be done about it, though. He can't carry him himself; all he can do is get rid of Ushijima as soon as possible, getting them onto the bus.

 So he nods and leads the way. 

_Even now that I am actually leading it's still only because he said so._ It kinda pisses him off.

So when they finally reach the others and of course it's Yamaguchi first seeing them, Kei might be a little colder than usual.

"Tsukki? Tsukki! There you are! Almost everyone's looking for you, and for..." which is when he finally realizes it's Ushijima right behind Kei. Ushijima carrying Hinata. "...Hinata." He finishes lamely. There's a million questions there his teammate is probably going to ask if he doesn't cut him off now.

"Not now," Kei says, before the other boy can voice any of them. "Just don't."

"The three of us shared an Important Moment and we went to talk, but Hinata passed out before we really could. I'm carrying him because he wouldn't wake and Tsukishima is injured." He puts Hinata down in one of the seats of the still empty bus.

"Oh, shut up, would you? It's not sure yet that was an IM out there. Yamaguchi is gonna freak out if you tell him like that!" Kei snaps.

Ushijima blinks, surprised. "Apologies," is all he says. "I didn't know you wanted to keep it a secret."

"It's not- ugh! You just don't walk around telling everybody like that, understand? And it really is not clear yet if it wasn't something else."

The older boy shrugs. "Alright," he replies. "I won't, then. I'll leave now; my team must be waiting. We'll talk later." With a polite nod at both of them he leaves.

_Finally!_

Kei relaxes a bit, but only for a moment. 

"You- He- Wha- Just what was that?!" Yamaguchi looks like he's about to faint.

"We're not talking about this!" Kei snaps. "And don't you dare tell any of the others! It's just... just a misunderstanding or something."

It is. It has to be.

"I, um, okay... don't worry, I won't..." Yamaguchi mutters.

"Good then." He doesn't even want to think about what it would mean if they _were_ soulmates. What it would mean for the team. Ushijima is the enemy. His head is spinning.

"I'll just... um, tell the others you're back..."

Kei nods as the only slightly younger boy starts writing messages and goes to sit in the back of the bus, dozing off himself, finally able to stop thinking.

If he's lucky he'll wake up and this will all have been nothing but a nightmare after a rough game.

_That'd be nice..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um, I still don't know what this was...? But it was fun writing it anyway =D Thanks for reading!  
> (I might write a little more of this but I don't have much time with uni and the rest of my life taking up most of my time at the moment so I'll leave this as a one shot for now...)


	2. Second Set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three volleydorks at their finest. All of them are being idiots, if you ask me. Hinata's still a bit scared, Ushiwaka is so far out of his comfort zone he doesn't know how to handle this and Tsukki's mostly observing and talking some sense into them when he has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT  
> I wanted to write this for Christmas but it didn't work out, it was kinda hard to write... :/ ANYWAY happy new year and enjoy! =)

Kei manages to avoid thinking about what happened at their last match for almost all of next week. There's a strange feeling always in the back of his mind, something he thinks is the faint echo of a bond that could grow if it's not rejected, but he's able to ignore it as long as he concentrates on other things. He's out of action due to his injury for a few days, but once he's back he trains harder than usual, stays longer after regular training and if he's not at the gym he works on his studies.

And it helps, keeps his mind off of everything else. He rarely talks to Hinata, but that's nothing unusual; he rarely talks at all. And the little redhead, though he seems unfocused, doesn't approach him, either. Until Friday evening, that is. Kei's stayed longer again, has ignored the weird looks the third-years are starting to give him because it's not like him at all to do more than he absolutely has to. Until now they might think that it's just because he changed his mind -and his attitude- at the last match, now that it's about nationals... he just hopes it'll stay that way, at least a little longer.  Until he figures this out for himself.

He sighs and starts tossing the ball up in the air again and again, since there isn't really all that much more you can do on your own. He'd need at least one more person to practice blocking or receiving.

"Tsukishima."

He misses the ball and it falls to the ground with a thud, bouncing away and finally rolling a short way until it stops. The quiet sound is unexpectedly loud in the mostly empty gym. Kei turns around and frowns at Hinata. "What is it?" he asks curtly; he doesn't want to talk.

The other boy looks nervous but determined; Kei can see him swallow visibly before straightening up and looking him directly in the eye. Well, at least he has guts, if not any talent or technique. "Y-You know we needa talk about this! We -we can't avoid it, because it won't go away if we do!"

Kei sighs. _The peace was nice as long as it lasted._ "I know," he replies. "But it was worth trying."

Hinata just stares at him as if he's surprised Kei isn't fighting him, opens his mouth and closes it again a few times as if he was prepared to argue as long as it would take to get him to at least talk about it. "I..." he finally says, "I, um..."

"C'mon," the taller boy interrupts his stuttering. "Let's lock up here and go somewhere else to talk."

 They work silently and once they're done and everything is locked up safe Kei leads the way outside; the silence weighs down on them as they walk side by side.

"Didn't you want to talk?" Kei finally asks, when he can't take it anymore. 

"I, um..." There's a faint blush on the redhead's cheeks, but maybe Kei is imagining that; he can't see very well in the light of the streetlamps. "I kinda... didn't think much further than getting you to talk..."

Great. "You never think ahead, do you?" Kei sighs.

"I just... I know you don't like me and Ushijima is kinda scary, but what happened happened and it's the only chance we'll get, so... so I think we should at least try. It can't be that bad, right? I mean, soulmates who get together always end up happy... I think..."

"I think you're right."

Hinata stares at him, half surprised and half shocked. "You do?"

"Yes, dumbass. It's like you said. We'll only get this one chance, even if that means that I'm stuck with you. And Ushijima... I don't like him any more than you but we should probably go talk to him, at least once."

"Tsukishima, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, it was your idea first, wasn't it?"

"That's not always a good thing."

A nod. "Most of the time it isn't."

"Hey!" It's amusing how flustered the little redhead looks all of a sudden. Kei just raises an eyebrow at him and then stops, looking ahead.

"We're here."

Hinata falls quiet, swallowing visibly. "Let's go, then," he says and all Kei can do is nod again and lead the way inside Shiratorizawa Academy.

They find the gym easily enough but it's eerily calm and silent; empty.

"Where should we go?" Hinata asks, when they've stood and looked at it for a moment. 

"How should I know? I've never been here before."

"Tsukishima Kei, Hinata Shoyo. Are you looking for me?"

They both turn around to see Ushijima; Hinata instinctively hides behind Kei, just to stop it once he realizes what he's doing. He comes to stand next to Kei instead, looking as nervous as the taller boy feels but it's him who speaks first.

"We are," he says. "We came to talk."

A nod. "Alright," Ushijima replies. He pulls out his phone and writes a quick message. "I told the others that I am sick and will skip training today. We can go and talk at my place, it's not that far away."

Kei shares a look with Hinata and then nods at Ushijima. "Okay."

And just like that they start moving, and Ushijima is the one leading the way -again. Sure, he's the only one _knowing_ the way this time, but it still pisses Kei off that he can only follow along. He hides it, though, keeps up his indifferent facade just like he always does; Ushijima doesn't say anything about it and Hinata won't notice anyway.

They don't even attempt to talk until they stop in front of a big house. It's huge, actually. More a mansion, in a very traditional way. There's a wall around the property, the only way in through a gate. Behind that lies a garden that seems to surround the main house; that's about all he can see from here.

Hinata makes a surprised little sound he doesn't seem to be aware of himself and stops dead in his tracks. " _That's_ your home?!" he asks.

Ushijima looks back over his shoulder, seemingly not understanding the other's reaction. Kei himself is somewhat shocked that the older boy not only is more powerful, on and off the court, but also rich. Unlike the shrimp he doesn't let it show, though. "Yes," is all the older boy replies. "Is that a problem?"

Kei gives the smaller boy a little shove to keep going -this was his idea after all- and moves past him. "Nah," he says. "I guess it just surprised the shrimp."

"Stop calling me that, beanpole!" comes the angry reply. It works, though. Hinata starts moving again, following them inside.

Ushijima looks slightly irritated, as if he doesn't know what to make of that, but doesn't comment on it. He leads the way, opening a sliding door to a rather big room. He pulls off his shoes and leaves them by the door, and Kei and Hinata follow suit. As they go in Kei looks around; the tatami mat flooring would be weird in any other place but here it fits. There's a bed, a cupboard, a writing desk... all in all, about everything Kei has in his own room, just without any personal touch; that makes it look a little like a hotel or a guest room. There's a small table in the middle of it with four seat cushions. Ushijima sits down on one of those and again the other two follow suit. Kei makes sure he looks as indifferent as always, Hinata looks more than a little bit uncomfortable.

After another moment of silence, Ushijima breaks it. "So have you decided if you want to give this a chance?" he asks. Kei would have snorted but Hinata beats him to it.

"You hate us, though. I don't see how this could work," the shrimp says quietly, looking at the table. "Or at least, you hate me. I dunno what you think about Tsukishima."

"I don't hate you," the older boy replies with a slight frown, calmly. "I don't know you. I just hate how you run around and jump on instinct alone; it's unpredictable and a nothing but a foolish waste of energy. It's irritating and it won't bring you anywhere."

"We did win against you, though," Hinata replies, with that air of calm confidence that he has sometimes; his eyes are wide, not out of fear but rather zeroing in on his goal. Kei thinks he's kinda scary like that. He sighs.

"Stop it, both of you," he says. "We're not here to fight over our views on volleyball. We're here because we had an IM and we really need to talk about what that means for us. So stop this right now or I'm out. I have better things to do with my free time than listening to you fight." Of course he would never leave Hinata here like that. He doesn't know if it's because of the maybe-bond or because they're teammates, but he feels somewhat protective of the shrimp. Which in itself should be annoying, but surprisingly it isn't.

Hinata pouts a bit but nods. "Fine," he says. "You're right. He started it though."

"Stop being such a kid," Kei scolds. "You're not five. And you knew what he thinks of us before you told me you wanted to go talk to him."

"It was your idea?" Ushijima asks. He sounds a little surprised.

Hinata sighs and nods. "Yeah," he replies. "I mean, if this is how it is then we won't get another chance." He looks down at the table, embarrassed. "I've always dreamed about finding my soulmate, y'know? And now it's two and both of them can't stand me and I don't have a clue what to make of this. It's not supposed to be like this..."

Which is almost exactly the same thing that has been bothering Kei. He's kinda impressed with how easily Hinata can let down his walls to actually put it into words.

"I know what you mean. You two are teammates and I'm... the enemy, I guess." Ushijima's quiet words come unexpected and they shock Kei enough to make him look at the brunette with wide eyes. This is how he thinks about it? Well, it does make sense, but...

"We can make this work," Kei hears himself say. There's a determination in his voice that surprises everybody, himself the most. He feels weird, somewhat protective of both of them. It seems they're both idiots in their own way. Before he can change his mind he holds out a hand to Ushijima. "I'm Kei," he says.

The older boy blinks but takes it. "Wakatoshi," he replies. When they touch there's a surge of energy, something Kei's read but forgot about until now. It has something to do with the bond, and the whole process of bonding. They let go of each other and Hinata looks a little confused, but then he holds out his hand, too. "I'm Shoyo," he says.

Ushijima -Wakatoshi- takes his hand, too, and Hinata blushes a little, maybe at the surge of energy he feels.

After that they sit in an awkward silence.

It's Hinata who breaks it first. "So, um, W-Wakatoshi, do you have a volleyball somewhere?" he blurts out.

"I- yes, why?"

"Because this is too awkward. Mind if we go outside and just toss for a while or something?"

Which ends up pretty much what they needed after all. Once they are out of that room and have fallen into a comfortable rhythm, Hinata tossing the ball to Kei, who tosses it to Wakatoshi, who tosses it back to Hinata, they relax enough to start talking again. Kei just goes along with it, it's not really like he cares and he doesn't mind it.

"When I was younger," Hinata says, "I saw the little giant on tv. That's the day I knew I wanted to play volleyball."

"I started playing because of my father," Wakatoshi replies. "He'd toss with me like this when I was younger. He's overseas now, though. I haven't seen him in a long time..."

They both look at Kei and he realizes they want his reason for starting to play. "My brother," he says. "He's an idiot though." After that they fall quiet again, but it's not as awkward as it was before.

At some point Hinata messes up his receive and the ball goes flying behind him. "Sorry!" he exclaims, and runs for it. When he returns with the ball they decide to take a break and sit in the grass instead.

"Your technique is terrible," Wakatoshi tells the little redhead.

Hinata blushes but huffs. "I was the only member of the volleyball club in junior high, so I had to practice tossing against the wall, or with my friends from the basketball or football team, or with the women's volleyball team... So I know my technique sucks but I'm working on it, y'know?" It sounds as if he wants to defend his choices and as if he's used to that. He smiles brightly. "Because I really love playing volleyball."

Which is probably Hinata Shoyo in a nutshell, Kei thinks. He can understand his love for volleyball, though, by now. And Wakatoshi, who smiles a little at that, too, as it seems.

"I see," is all the older boy says.

They end up tossing some more and after that they somehow end up back in Wakatoshi's room, sitting on the bed because it's more comfortable. It's bigger than Kei's own, he notices.

"Hey, um..." Hinata trails off and blushes bright red, not looking at them.

"What is it?" Wakatoshi asks.

"Just, um, forget about it..."

"C'mon, shrimp, out with it," Kei prompts, causing the smaller boy to glare at him for a moment before looking at where his fingers are playing with the blanket again.

"I just -Do you guys like cuddling?" he blurts out, blushing an even deeper shade of red. Kei blushes a little at that himself. Cuddling? With Hinata? Or... Wakatoshi? They went a long way today, at least they managed to talk a bit without fighting, and he thinks given time this could maybe, _maybe_ , work. But cuddling? Though he can see how it could be important for someone as... sociable as Hinata...

"I don't mind it," he hears Wakatoshi say to his surprise. "I always wanted to take care of my soulmate once I'd find them... If it's something you need, then..." Does he actually sound a little insecure? For the first time it occurs to Kei that the older boy might be just as lost as he is himself.

"I just..." Hinata trails off again. "I always thought about how I'd cuddle my soulmate once I'd found them and never let go..." he mutters, clearly embarrassed.

"Do you... do you want to?" Wakatoshi asks.

Hinata shakes his head, then nods, and shakes his head again. "I dunno, you're kinda scary, y'know?"

Wakatoshi blinks surprised. "Scary?" He sounds like he never thought anybody could think of him like that.

Kei snorts. "Of course," he says. "You can be kinda scary on court, you know? And you're about two times as big as the shrimp so it has to be worse for him."

"I never thought anybody would be scared of me," the older boy admits. He looks at Hinata. "You don't have to be scared," he says quietly. "You're my soulmate, I would never do anything to harm you... I carried you back to the bus when you fell asleep on us, too, and you're still in one piece..."

Hinata jumps at that and makes a squeaking little noise and whoops, Kei actually never told him about that. "You -what?"

Wakatoshi frowns. "Kei didn't tell you? There was no other way, he was injured so I carried you..."

"You... carried me." Hinata repeats weakly.

"Yes," Wakatoshi replies, looking a little worried. "I did. Are you alright?" 

Hinata just hides his face in his hands and mutters something unintelligible. Kei might be wrong but if he hears right, it's something about a weird dream not being a dream.

The blond looks at the scene in front of him and blinks. And then he laughs.

Hinata glares at him, still red as a tomato, which doesn't help Kei, and huffs before going back into hiding.

"You're adorable, you know that?" he asks, earning himself another glare, and where was _that_ coming from? Since when does he think the shrimp -or anybody for that matter- is adorable?

In the end they manage to get back to more innocent topics and nobody cuddles with anyone until it's time to get home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't know if I like this. Right now it feels like it's the biggest bullshit I've ever written and I haven't even re-read it yet so there's probably a lot of stupid little mistakes but I'm still gonna post it because maybe you guys still like it... if I still feel bad about this in a few days I'll come back and edit it, I guess...


	3. Third Set

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue. Here be fluff~  
> Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this a lot more than the Second Set...

Kei and Hinata -calling him Shoyo is just too weird- end up spending a lot of time with Wakatoshi. There's a few turbulent weeks when they have to tell their team about what happened and deal with their reactions. Ushijima Wakatoshi of all people, _their_ soulmate. _He. The enemy._ The team doesn't want to believe that either of them would tell him something about their training or planning he isn't supposed to know, but all of them are at least a little scared of the older boy. Which is understandable but, Kei knows now, unnecessary.

Really, he's just a giant teddy bear if you get to know him better, he just doesn't know how to deal with people. If they'd just seen him cuddle with Hinata once they'd know.

Like he does right now. They're in Wakatoshi's room again, because out of all of them he has the most space and it's nice and quiet here. Hinata is cuddling with him on the bed, with his head lying on his chest and Wakatoshi's hand carding through his bright orange mob of hair, the older boy sitting against the headboard. Kei's doing the last of his homework at the table, it's an biology essay about the chemical reactions during the bonding process. He feels the connection tugging in the back of his mind now when he concentrates on it, something warm and comfortable that makes him smile to himself.

"Tsukkiii," Hinata whines a bit from behind him, and he has to be more than half asleep to call him that. "Why don'cha ever come 'n cuddle?"

"Because I actually care about my grades," the blond replies without turning around. "You should try that, too."

Hinata just huffs and mutters something, probably hiding his face in Wakatoshi's chest because Kei can't make out any words for the life of him.

"I don't know," the older boy answers as if he understood. "But he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. You know that, right?"

There's another huff and more muttering. Kei grins a little at it. They really have come a long way for all of them to be so comfortable with each other. He remembers one of the first times Hinata and Wakatoshi cuddled.

It was after a match that was particularly hard for the little redhead, just an exhibition game with Nekoma but Hinata takes every game as serious as the finals at nationals. The little guy really does love volleyball. Not that Kei wouldn't understand him by now. Afterwards they'd met up with Wakatoshi again, even though Hinata was positively whacked.

_"Are you alright, Hinata?" the older boy had asked somewhat worried._

_"Mmmmhhh," had been all he'd gotten for an answer. With that the little redhead had slumped against him, yawning. Wakatoshi had looked at Kei with wide eyes, holding Hinata upright awkwardly but looking lost at what else to do._

_"What should I do?" he had asked desperately._

_Kei had bitten back a grin and a snicker and shrugged instead. "Go sit on the bed with him? Cuddle him. He said he'd like to, you said you'd be fine with it, so just do it?"_

_"But... really? I mean, we don't even know each other all that long and..."_

_"You_ carried _him all the way back to the bus literally fifteen minutes after our IM. What's different about this?"_

_"I just..." Wakatoshi had blushed a little. "That was necessary..."_

_"And this is not?" Kei had asked. "Look at him, he's totally out of it. Let him rest a bit; he deserves it. And he seems to be okay with it."_

_Wakatoshi had actually listened to him and gotten comfortable with Hinata on the bed. After a while he'd relaxed and started carding his hand through the younger boy's hair at which Hinata had hummed happily in his sleep, cuddling closer and muttering something that had sounded a lot like "Toshi". All in all it had been looking quite comfortable and Wakatoshi hadn't looked scary at all with the little smile on his lips as he looked down at the sleeping redhead._

A smile he's wearing now, too, when Kei looks over his shoulder after a moment of silence. It's probably the bond they share that makes him smile himself, happy to see his soulmates this content. Not that this was a bad thing. Wakatoshi looks up, smiling at him and opening his free arm invitingly. It's something he hasn't done before, but why not, actually? It does look very comfortable and nobody is going to see him...

Before he can think it over he leaves his homework and his headphones on the table and walks over to the bed. He sits down and settles in on Wakatoshi's free side, a little stiff at first when the older boy lays his arm around him to pull him closer, but gradually relaxing into his hold, resting his head on his shoulder. Wakatoshi smiles and kisses his cheek, something he's started doing when cuddling Hinata. It seems he just can't hold himself back from kissing his cheek or hair from time to time, and now Kei is included in that.

_So it's not a Hinata-thing but a cuddling-thing..._

He thinks he can live with that. 

Hinata whines a little and Wakatoshi chuckles and continues playing with his hair.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... this is it! Thanks for reading and if you liked it maybe leave a comment? Comments make writers happy~


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